Background: An exterior view of St. Francis High School Friday, March 3, 2017, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez). Inset: California teens wearing a dark green acne face mask in a selfie that prompted their expulsion from St. Francis High School. Photo provided by Superior Court of California.
It wasn’t the $20 million they initially hoped for, but two former high school students from California who sued after they were expelled after being accused of wearing blackface in a viral photo will receive a little more than $1 million.
The teens, who attended the Catholic Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, were expelled in 2020 after a 2017 photo of them wearing a dark green acne mask on their faces during a sleepover went viral. The image surfaced online in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and amid racial justice protests. The students were around 14 years old in the photo when it was taken.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a jury in Santa Clara County agreed that Saint Francis High School administrators overstepped when issuing the expulsion, and failed to give the students a fair hearing before tossing them from the school. The students claims of First Amendment violations and defamation, however, were rejected.
The plaintiffs, who are identified only as A.A. and A.H., will receive $500,000 each and both will have school tuition reimbursed to them.
In a statement following the ruling, an attorney for the former students called the decision “groundbreaking” for the effect it will have on private high schools in the Golden State going forward.
“The jury rightly confirmed that Saint Francis High School’s procedures were unfair to our clients and that the school is not above the law,” attorney Krista Baughman told the Los Angeles Times.
A spokesperson for the school shared a statement with Law&Crime in an email saying Saint Francis High “respectfully disagree[d]” with the conclusion about their disciplinary review process.
“We appreciate the jury’s verdict rejecting the plaintiffs’ two primary claims of defamation and breach of contract and thank them for their thoughtful analysis,” the statement says. “The jury rightly found we did not breach our handbook, did not violate the students’ free speech rights, and did not defame the students. However, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion as to the lesser claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process and are exploring legal options, including appeal as there is no legal precedent applying that claim to a high school. We are grateful for the strong support of our community throughout this case. We look forward to putting this matter behind us so we can return to focusing solely on educating our vibrant student body and living the Catholic values of the Holy Cross tradition, which are rooted in hope, respect, integrity and family.”
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